Process of making albumose.



UNITED STATES Patented May 19, 1903.

DIT'IMAR FINKLE'R, OF BONNQGERMANY.

PROCESS -OF"MAKI NG ALBUMOSE.

SPECIFICATION f rming partof Letters Patent No, 728,385, dated May 19 1903.

Application filed November 4, 1902. Serial No. 130,113. (No specimens.) I

To aZZ whom it may'concern: U

Be it known that I, DITTMAR FINKLER, residing at Bonn-on-the-Rhine,Germany, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in the Process of Making Albumose; and I do hereby declare'the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention,'such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

This invention relates to improvements in the extraction of albumen from substances containing the same.

In effecting the extraction ofpure albumen from muscular fibers the'gr'eatest difficulty has heretofore been caused by the composition of the fibers, which are not homogeneous chemical masses. A muscular fiber is composed of a number of fibrillae which lie side by side in the direction of their length,so that each fiber can be itself resolved into a large number of longitudinal fibrillae. All these fibrillze are inclosed in gelatin or a collogenic substance. Fat exists in exceedingly fine drops between the muscle fiber's in the spaces in this collog'enic tissue and penetrates with the latter between the numerous fine fibrillze of the muscles. Another form of fat, moreover,exists more deeply in the substance of the muscle fibers, and these fatty mixtures are exceedingly difficult to remove from the fibers, as to do so it'is necessary 'thatthe material to be used as a solvent shall penetrate the whole of the gelatin nateriaL-the collogenic tissue, and, finally, through the albuminous constituents of the fine fibrillae. In order, however, to extract pure albumen, the aforesaid collogenic tissue, inclusiveot' the gelatin, and especially the two above-named kinds of fat molecules, must be removed, for the collogenic tissue and the gelatin aid putrefaction and give rise to objectionable fiavor. Furthermore, the fat'iu the state of fine division in which it exists in the muscle is very liable to become decomposed and rancid, so that even the smallest traces of fat graduallyimpart an unpleasant flavor to the albumen. Again, fat is always the carrier of coloring-matters and tasting and odorous substances, as is seen, for example, in the case of butter and fat in which the smell of such substances is always retained.

is chiefly the removal of the gelatin, collogenic tissue,and fat.

, The object I have had in view, therefore,

has been found to be very advantageous to soak the albumen of the'muscle in waste hydrochloric, nitric, sulfuric," and organic acids in certain degrees of dilution are particularly suitable for the purpose, especially at'higher temperatures rising'to boiling-point,

by which soaking the albumen swells. In

carrying out this operation, however, it isn'ec- 'essary to take in consideration t'hefact (which has escaped the 'notice'of formerexperimente'rs in this branch of work) that'the inorganic or organic acids used in the soaking or swelling operation must not be subsequently removed by neutralization, as this causes precipitation of the substances dissolved in the acid. The acid must, on the'contrary,be

gradually washed out, and even this operation must be efiected'in a particular manner,

as it is found that it is not possible to wash away the fat with the acid from tissue by means of cold water. To effect this,higher temperatures,stretching to the boiling-point, must be employed, for when fat'and fatty acids are dissolved in dilute inorganic or organic acids they are again precip tated for the most part as solid substances when the; solution is cooled, thus giving a similar resuit to that obtained when the acids a 11611; tralized. V i

The process forming the subject'of this invention consists, therefore, in pouring over perature which may rise to the boiling-point the muscle mass dilute acid (hydrochloric, nitric, sulfuric, or an organic acid) at a temor above and in then washing out the acid with water or a neutral liquid at a proper temperature after "the said acid has penegenic tissue, and partially split up and pari tially dissolved the fat. By this washin'goperation the gelatin an'dthe fat in the acid are dissolved at the proper temperaturefandz' washed away with the same.

The above-described method is ofparticw' IOO lar value in thecase of flesh mealthat is to say,dried flesh fibersalthough in principle it is also applicable to fresh flesh, from which it is perhaps more easy to extract the gelatin and fat, since the dried muscle fibers, on account of the changes which take place in the albumen on drying, oifer considerable opposition to the penetration of the solvent. The process is also applicable in essentially the same manner to other albumen-containing materials than muscle fiber, since fat particles and other impurities can be attacked in plant-cells in the same way as in the case of coagulated or enveloping albuminous parti cles. The present process can also be applied to albuminous materials which have been subjected to a preliminary treatment with alkali. Under certain circumstances it is advantageous to dissolve the albumen from the substance containing it by means of alkaline solutions and then to precipitate the dissolved albumen from the solution by a suitable addition of acid. This precipitate then forms the raw albuminous material, which is treated in the manner above described. It may also be advantageous in certain cases to first wash the albuminous materials in an alkaline lye to separate out from the albumen such substances as are soluble in the lye. This washing takes place under conditions which in general do not admit of the solution of the albumen. The albumencontaining materials after being washed in the alkali are further treated by the abovedescribed process.

My processes maybe further explained by means of the following illustration, which, however, it is to be understood, is only given by way of example.

Example: The albumen-containing materialfor example, flesh meal-4s treated with atwo-per-cent. (or stronger) solution of acidfor example, hydrochloric acidthe temperature being preferably raised to the boilingpoint, although it can remain below the boiling-point, particularly when the acid is of greater strength than that above mentioned. Furthermore, the ordinary boiling temperature can be exceeded when comparatively Weak acid is employed at a high pressure in closed vessels. The concentration, temperature, and duration of the operation are dependent upon the resistance of the albuminous material and are so arranged that the said material is not destroyed. In this operation the albuminous material runs out and is then washed out with hot water until all soluble matters and the acid are removed. This is preferably effected by pouring off the acidulatcd water first obtained and treating the remainingalbuminous material with fresh hot water, which is then poured away, treatment with fresh hot water being again resorted to until nothing further is dissolvedthat is to say, until the washing-water no longer shows an acid reaction. The neutralization of the acid in the presence of the albuminous material has not taken place. The albuminous mass,which has been well washed, as above described, with hot water, is then separated from the watersay by decantation-and is dried in a centrifugal apparatus or in drying-chambers.

If it be desired to obtain the albuminous substance in a finely-divided condition in the acid liquid for the purpose of attaining a higher degree of purity, a solution can first be obtained with alkali, the acid being then added in the necessary excess and the albuminous material which is precipitated being then treated with acid under the action of heat, as above described.

Having now described my invention, what I desire to secure by a Patent of the United States is l. The process of extracting albumen from substances containing the same, which consists in treating said substances witha suitable dilnte acid to dissolve the collogenic tissue, fat and other impurities, and finally eliminating the acid and impurities, leaving albumen nndissolved, substantially as described.

2. The process of extracting albumen from substances containing the same,which consists in treating said substances with a suitable hot, dilute acid, to dissolve the collogenie tissue, fat and other impurities, separating the liquid from the undissolved albu' men and freeing the albumen from acid solution with hot water, substantially as described.

3. The process of extracting albumen from substances containing the same, which consists in first treating them with a solution of an alkali, then acidulating the resulting solution with a suitable acid to dissolve the impurities, heating the same and finally washing out the impurities with hot water, substantially as described.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as my invention I have signed my name in presence of two subscribing witnesses.

DITTMAR FINKLER.

lVitnesses CARL SCHMITT, GUSTAV SIMBoLD. 

